Nine Commandments of Bodybuilding With Isometrics

By Matt Schifferle

See also: The IsoMax Isometrics Training Device

There are so many things to love about isometric training, especially when training for muscle growth.

• It’s super hard on the muscles yet easy on the joints.
• Isometrics is one of the most direct ways to curate time under tension.
• The simplicity and efficiency make for easy and consistent training essential for long-term gains.
• You can target any major muscle group, even the most stubborn to grow.
• The ultra-efficient nature of isometrics makes it easier to adhere to a workout plan consistently.

Yet, one of the biggest advantages of isometrics is how easy it is to use effectively. Isometric training is one of the most fool-proof training methods in existence. You don’t need to spend years refining your technique until you can safely push yourself super hard. Isometric bodybuilding also doesn’t require a PhD in exercise science and physiology to program effectively. You can grab’n go with isometrics, and it will work.

However, even the simplest methods can always be improved, and isometrics is no exception. By following these nine commandments, you can seriously level up your ability to build muscle with isometrics.

#1 Warm-up

A good warm-up is not just about preparing your joints and making you feel loose. It’s also about ramping up your nervous system to drive substantial tension into your muscles. A good warm-up also helps you mentally get in the zone so you can apply more focus and concentration to each hold.

You don’t need to overthink your warm-up. Practicing a few lighter intensity short-duration holds of the exercise you’re about to do or some light dynamic variations of the exercise can work great. I recommend holding for about five seconds at about 60 to 70% intensity for two to three holds.

A few simple dynamic reps with an exercise band can do wonders to prepare the body and mind for the work to come.

#2 Always "set" your tension

You can only grow a muscle to the degree you can engage it, and everyone has difficulty engaging at least one or two muscle groups.

Common stubborn muscle groups include the glutes, lats, abs, chest, and hamstrings. If either of these muscles are stubborn to grow for you, you may have poor activation in those muscles.

Setting your tension is the habit of proactively contracting the muscle before applying resistance by putting force through the handle. You are essentially flexing the muscle to ensure it will be properly engaged during the exercise.

You don’t need to flex the muscle as hard as possible; just contract it enough to feel it engage before your ramp-up.

#3 Don’t rush the ramp-up

Working with heavy muscle tension requires several seconds of ramp-up time with each hold. Rushing through the ramp-up can produce a lower-quality hold and handicap how much force you’re applying to the bar. It can also inhibit your tension control and technique, which may increase the risk of injury.

A good rule of thumb is to take a deep breath before each hold and exhale while ramping up the tension in your muscles over 3-5 seconds. You’ll find you can bring more tension to your muscles while also using your muscles more synergistically.

#4 Integrate, don’t isolate

Just like with dynamic bodybuilding, some of the most effective isometric techniques for building specific muscles are single-joint exercises like biceps curls and sissy squats.

Such exercises are often called "isolation exercises," but this term is not a helpful description of what you’re doing.

The neuromuscular system is constructed to work as a series of connected links. Each muscle overlaps several others to transfer force throughout the body.

Your muscles were built to work together, so use them that way. There’s no sense in fighting Mother Nature.

Attempting to isolate muscle tension in one localized area is difficult and less effective. The more you try to make only your biceps work during a curl, the more you rob yourself of the opportunity to work your biceps much harder.

Muscles work best with integration, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t heavily emphasize a particular area. This is certainly evident with isometric training.

In the example of an isometric barbell curl, you’re still standing upright, which requires muscle tension throughout the entire body. You still want to apply tension in your legs, hips, core, and back. Keeping muscle tension in those key areas will significantly amplify the tension you can place in your biceps during the curl.

All isometric exercises are full-body exercises. You’re just emphasizing localized muscle groups.

As a bonus, this muscular irradiation will make the exercise not only more effective but also more comfortable and safer.

#5 Breathe!

It can be tempting to hold your breath to produce more force against the handle momentarily, but this can rapidly increase fatigue. That’s also not the productive type of fatigue you want.

Being able to breathe while producing a lot of muscle tension is a skill that may take practice to become proficient at. Engaging your skeletal muscles while relaxing your diaphragm to continue breathing requires coordination.

If you’re new to isometrics or have difficulty with continuous breathing during an exercise, I recommend practicing some light isometrics with only about 50 to 60% max effort. Using less tension will make it easier to breathe under physical stress. As you become more comfortable and proficient with continuous breathing, you can increase the amount of force you’re applying to the handle.

#6 Use longer holds

Short hold times are effective for all types of training, but you will probably have an easier time challenging your work capacity with longer hold times.

I’ve often found the sweet spot for producing a high degree of muscular fatigue to be around 20 to 30 seconds for each hold.

Don’t get too caught up in trying to find an optimal hold time for building muscle. Remember, the objective is to challenge your work capacity, which should quickly bring your muscles to a high state of fatigue. Experiment with several hold times ranging from ten seconds to a full minute and see which duration allows you to produce a high level of tension and produce a very high level of muscular fatigue.

#7 Use as much volume as needed. 

The goal of hypertrophy training is to challenge your muscular work capacity. You want to use enough volume to create a state of burnout in the muscles.

 

You never train the same body twice so some days you’re going to have more energy than others and therefore require more volume.  Either way, the key is to use enough volume, but then stop working the muscle group once you start to fatigue to avoid junk volume, which can be a persistent issue with isometric training.

The most obvious way to tell if you are burning out your muscles is to no longer receive the IsoMax audio feedback in load or time mode. The other helpful way is to check your max or average after each hold. When your numbers start to go down on either of those modes, your muscles are starting to be pretty burned out.

The key is to use as many holds as necessary to achieve that burnout. Some exercises may require more volume to sufficiently challenge the work capacity of the muscles while others will make it happen with just one or two holds.

#8 Rest as needed

Ideally, you want to rest enough between holds and workouts to ensure you can bring a lot of energy and focus to the next bout. Naturally, the amount of rest you need will depend on several influences. These variables can include your physical, emotional, and even emotional state. Environmental considerations like the weather and distractions can also play a role in recovery.

The dynamic nature of influences on your overall fatigue is why I always recommend a rest-as-needed approach. Give yourself enough time and recovery to come back strong. If you need more time to make that happen for any number of reasons then give yourself more time. However, if you are ready to bring the thunder then by all means get to work.

You’re certainly welcome to use a general recommendation like 1-2 minutes between holds and 1 to 2 days between workouts. But there’s no need to adhere to a dogmatic rule if you feel more or less rest will help you achieve your objective further.

#9 Adopt supportive lifestyle habits

It’s always going to be difficult to build muscle if you eat like a bird or brag to coworkers how little sleep you can get by on.

That’s not to say you need to follow a strict diet or live like a monk to put on mass. You don’t need things to be perfect, you just need to make sure you’re not always messing things up.

A diet that supports hypertrophy doesn’t need to be "ideal" according to some greenhorn social media influencers. Ensure you’re including a good source of protein and some plant-based foods at each meal. A healthy diet satisfies and supports your training. You shouldn’t feel perpetually deprived and hungry.

And sleep! Much of your hormone regulation and muscle growth happens when you sleep; so be sure to get your shut eye.

Naps are supplemental to your muscle growth in the same way protein shakes and creatine are supplemental to your diet. Taking a few cat naps throughout the week can do wonders. No one ever "killed their Gainz" by getting a few extra hours of sleep, but plenty of folks have done just that through staying up late doom-scrolling.

Lastly, mental and emotional stress is pure kryptonite for effective strength training. I know you can’t completely avoid stress in life, but a lot of stress these days is voluntary and self-inflicted. I’m just as guilty as anyone for getting all worked up over the abusive emotional manipulation that saturates social media and the news. Not to mention energy vampires abound who want to latch on and drain you of whatever optimistic joy you experience in your daily life.

Supportive lifestyle habits require setting boundaries and vigilant discipline. Like with your workouts, you don’t need an ideal or optimized lifestyle, but making even small improvements in diet, sleep, and where you spend your attention can make all the difference in the world. Not just for building up your body, but your overall health and quality of life.

I absolutely stand by my initial statement that isometric training is one of the easiest ways to build muscle, and these 9 commandments will make it even more so. This week, focus on implementing just one or two of these into your routine and you’ll notice a difference.

Be Fit, Live Free,

Matt Schifferle

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Matt Schifferle (shif-er-lee) is on a mission to help people break free of the fitness rat race and make the whole world stronger through calisthenics and Isometrics training. A fitness coach for over two decades, he created his Red Delta Project to empower people with more freedom and control over their healthy lifestyle.

Matt works with a wide variety of clients in Denver Colorado where he’s constantly testing his Fundamental Approach to Fitness on the mountain bike trail and local brew pubs.

Website: https://www.reddeltaproject.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RedDeltaproject

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/red.delta.project/

Podcast on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/2ofedjsh

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